IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/epplan/v105y2024ics0149718924000387.html

Examining the causes and effects of time overruns in construction projects promoted by rural municipalities in Nepal

Author

Listed:
  • Koirala, Madhav Prasad
  • Shahi, Roshan Samrat

Abstract

Time overruns are the most common issue in construction projects, which have a significant negative impact on the project and the parties involved. This also applies to National Competitive Bidding (NCB) construction projects in municipalities, jeopardizing project timelines, costs, and quality standards. Poor performance by professionals in rural municipalities has resulted in inadequate infrastructure development in these areas. The goal of this study is to understand the causes and effects of time overruns by employing an exploratory and descriptive research methodology. The data from clients, consultants, and contractors consistently highlights key factors contributing to project delays, including adverse weather conditions, limited involvement from contractor head offices, insufficient consultant experience, inadequate site management, and delays in site mobilization. These delays incur substantial costs related to materials, land acquisition, labor, and market risks. The results included that 52.17% the projects experienced time overruns ranging from 24.4% to 514.71%. Furthermore, 21.73% of projects experienced cost overruns, with the highest at 19.92%. These findings provide critical insights for improving project management and addressing construction time overruns. It recommends conducting national-scale analyses to gain a comprehensive understanding of construction delays and to implement effective mitigation strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Koirala, Madhav Prasad & Shahi, Roshan Samrat, 2024. "Examining the causes and effects of time overruns in construction projects promoted by rural municipalities in Nepal," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:105:y:2024:i:c:s0149718924000387
    DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2024.102436
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718924000387
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2024.102436?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ramy Khalef & Gasser G. Ali & Islam H. El-adaway & Ghada M. Gad, 2022. "Managing construction projects impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic: a contractual perspective," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 313-330, April.
    2. Edyta Plebankiewicz, 2018. "Model of Predicting Cost Overrun in Construction Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Odeck, James, 2004. "Cost overruns in road construction--what are their sizes and determinants?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 43-53, January.
    4. Aftab Memon & Ismail Rahman & Muhammad Akram & Nornashima Ali, 2014. "Significant Factors Causing Time Overrun in Construction Projects of Peninsular Malaysia," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(4), pages 1-16, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Edyta Plebankiewicz & Damian Wieczorek, 2020. "Prediction of Cost Overrun Risk in Construction Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Faúndez, Patricio & Guzmán, Juan Ignacio, 2025. "Deconstructing cost overrun and delay in mining projects: A system-based model of prices, quantities, and time," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    3. Chantal C. Cantarelli & Bert van Wee & Eric J. E. Molin & Bent Flyvbjerg, 2013. "Different Cost Performance: Different Determinants? The Case of Cost Overruns in Dutch Transportation Infrastructure Projects," Papers 1307.2179, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2015.
    4. Cantarelli, C.C. & Flyvbjerg, B. & Buhl, S.L., 2012. "Geographical variation in project cost performance: the Netherlands versus worldwide," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 324-331.
    5. Herve Kabanda & Alex Romard & Fuze Yurtsever & Anjali Wadhera & Joshua Andrews & Craig Merrett, 2021. "Construction Time Estimation Function for Canadian Utility Scale Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-16, August.
    6. T. N. Omysheva & S. V. Razmanova & E. G. Chernova, 2025. "Engineering Projects in the Oil and Gas Industry: A New Look at Old Problems," Studies on Russian Economic Development, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 368-377, June.
    7. Nandita Vadali & Anand Prakash Tiwari & Thillai Rajan A., 2014. "Effect of the Political Environment on Public Private Partnership Projects," Journal of Infrastructure Development, India Development Foundation, vol. 6(2), pages 145-165, December.
    8. Cavalieri, Marina & Cristaudo, Rossana & Guccio, Calogero, 2019. "On the magnitude of cost overruns throughout the project life-cycle: An assessment for the Italian transport infrastructure projects," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 21-36.
    9. Holz-Rau, Christian & Scheiner, Joachim, 2011. "Safety and travel time in cost-benefit analysis: A sensitivity analysis for North Rhine-Westphalia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 336-346, March.
    10. Alessandro Bucciol & Ottorino Chillemi & Giacomo Palazzi, 2011. "Cost Overrun and Auction Format in Public Works," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0129, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    11. Love, Peter E.D. & Ika, Lavagnon A. & Ahiaga-Dagbui, Dominic D., 2019. "On de-bunking ‘fake news’ in a post truth era: Why does the Planning Fallacy explanation for cost overruns fall short?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 397-408.
    12. Hugo Priemus & Bert van Wee (ed.), 2013. "International Handbook on Mega-Projects," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14791, June.
    13. Sou-Sen Leu & Cheng-Yu Lu & Pei-Lin Wu, 2023. "Dynamic-Bayesian-Network-Based Project Cost Overrun Prediction Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, March.
    14. Francisco Pinheiro Catalão & Carlos Oliveira Cruz & Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, 2023. "The entanglement of time and cost deviations in public projects," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(1), pages 241-272, March.
    15. Dahl, Roy Endré & Lorentzen, Sindre & Oglend, Atle & Osmundsen, Petter, 2017. "Pro-cyclical petroleum investments and cost overruns in Norway," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 68-78.
    16. Love, Peter E.D. & Ika, Lavagnon A. & Matthews, Jane & Li, Xinjian & Fang, Weili, 2021. "A procurement policy-making pathway to future-proof large-scale transport infrastructure assets," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    17. Adriana Gómez-Cabrera & Amalia Sanz-Benlloch & Laura Montalban-Domingo & Jose Luis Ponz-Tienda & Eugenio Pellicer, 2020. "Identification of Factors Affecting the Performance of Rural Road Projects in Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-18, September.
    18. Amadi Alolote, 2019. "Towards Critical Realism in Cost Overrun Research," International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 4(6), pages 23-31, February.
    19. Minhyuk Jung & Shira You & Seokho Chi & Ilhan Yu & Bon-Gang Hwang, 2018. "The Relationship between Unbilled Accounts Receivable and Financial Performance of Construction Contractors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-14, July.
    20. Chantal C. Cantarelli & Bent Flyvbjerg, 2013. "Mega-projects’ cost performance and lock-in: problems and solutions," Chapters, in: Hugo Priemus & Bert van Wee (ed.), International Handbook on Mega-Projects, chapter 15, pages 333-355, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:105:y:2024:i:c:s0149718924000387. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/evalprogplan .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.